This show continues to walk a very fine line while also making it look very easy to do. Thinking about the premise from the very start there was the risk that this would be a vanity project of rich, successful people chatting about their success as they drive round in luxury cars before dropping into regular coffee shops as if it was something they did every day. This is a risk that it mostly manages very well, but it is one that is constant since we go episode by episode. To the show's credit then, it avoids it well again throughout this fifth season, although there are other issues.
The main issue with this season is that it is not consistent, and mostly this is down to the choice of guests – or rather how well the guests work. Hart, Burr, Wentworth, and Fallon all seem to get the show and really enjoy themselves as part of it; okay some are naturally funnier than others but of these four I really enjoyed them, even though for 2 of them I did not know them, and in the case of Hart – I'm not a big fan. This leaves 3 other guests, none of whom I really thought worked. I have never seen anything from Schumer that I know of, but on the basis of this I have no desire to; she seems uncomfortable throughout, and you do feel for Seinfeld doing all the heavy lifting. This is also true of the one with Miranda Sings (again, never heard of her) but it is a deliberate act where she is in-character for all but the final minute, and Jerry goes along with it – it works here and there, but mostly feels like one joke stretched out for far too long. Armisen is pleasing enough, and nicely dry, and his episode sort of falls in the middle between the ones that work and the ones that don't (fortunately there are more of the former).
The production values remain very high, with beautiful cars shot to look even more so – although it is always amusing to see them breakdown or need a jumpstart. Seinfeld himself remains a good presence at the heart of the show; very easy to talk and fine to have fun poked at himself. The addition of an occasional role for Richards as the boss of Crackle is a nice idea and I liked that it is used in small doses, which is how it works best. As a whole, the fifth season is quite inconsistent thanks to the variability of the guests – it is not an issue of the more famous ones being the better guests, but generally it plays out like this – although there is no reason this should be this way. Some brave and interesting choice of guests, which I hope continues, but hopefully they are more successful too.
The main issue with this season is that it is not consistent, and mostly this is down to the choice of guests – or rather how well the guests work. Hart, Burr, Wentworth, and Fallon all seem to get the show and really enjoy themselves as part of it; okay some are naturally funnier than others but of these four I really enjoyed them, even though for 2 of them I did not know them, and in the case of Hart – I'm not a big fan. This leaves 3 other guests, none of whom I really thought worked. I have never seen anything from Schumer that I know of, but on the basis of this I have no desire to; she seems uncomfortable throughout, and you do feel for Seinfeld doing all the heavy lifting. This is also true of the one with Miranda Sings (again, never heard of her) but it is a deliberate act where she is in-character for all but the final minute, and Jerry goes along with it – it works here and there, but mostly feels like one joke stretched out for far too long. Armisen is pleasing enough, and nicely dry, and his episode sort of falls in the middle between the ones that work and the ones that don't (fortunately there are more of the former).
The production values remain very high, with beautiful cars shot to look even more so – although it is always amusing to see them breakdown or need a jumpstart. Seinfeld himself remains a good presence at the heart of the show; very easy to talk and fine to have fun poked at himself. The addition of an occasional role for Richards as the boss of Crackle is a nice idea and I liked that it is used in small doses, which is how it works best. As a whole, the fifth season is quite inconsistent thanks to the variability of the guests – it is not an issue of the more famous ones being the better guests, but generally it plays out like this – although there is no reason this should be this way. Some brave and interesting choice of guests, which I hope continues, but hopefully they are more successful too.
